Objective: The purpose of the cross-sectional study was to identify associations of diabetes distress, physical functioning, and cognition with A1C in older Black individuals with diabetes and mild cognitive impairment.
Methods: The investigators analyzed previously collected data from 101 older Black individuals with diabetes and mild cognitive impairment. Participants were administered surveys at baseline to assess diabetes distress, physical functioning, and cognitive functioning and had A1C testing.
Results: The mean age of participants was 68.4 years, and 62% were women. Participants with higher A1C showed worse self-reported daily functioning (r = -0.28, P <0.01). Three of four diabetes distress factors were positively correlated with A1C: emotional (r = 0.28, P <0.01), regimen-related (r = 0.33, P <0.01), and interpersonal distress (r = 0.27, P <0.01). In a multivariate regression with A1C as the dependent variable, only regimen-related diabetes distress (β = 0.32, P = 0.008) and self-reported daily functioning (β = -0.33, P = 0.019) were significant.
Conclusion: Regimen-related diabetes distress and self-reported daily functioning were found to compromise glycemic control in Black individuals with mild cognitive impairment and diabetes. This finding suggests that diabetes interventions should be multifaceted to improve glycemic control in the high-risk population of Black individuals with diabetes.
© 2021 by the American Diabetes Association.